Religious, Spiritual
& Ethical Life

Providing spiritual and personal
support to students, faculty,
staff, and the MIT community

Spiritual Support

At MIT, there are about 25 active and long-standing religious organizations on campus. These organizations are based in Building W11, the Religious Activities Center. Chaplains who represent major faith communities devote their time to on-campus activities, one-on-one counseling for students, and advising student religious organizations. In addition, there are para-church groups served by chaplains and interns working on campus during the school year. These groups are all supported by outside funding.

Religious, moral and ethical convictions are important personal identity markers, and the Institute encourages all members of the community to freely express their beliefs. The chaplain to the Institute monitors that responsibility and offers support and counsel in times of loss and trauma.

The Office Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment and adheres to the Institute’s nondiscrimination policy as described here.

F.A.Q.s:

Yes, the MIT Chapel is generally open for visitors. Please enter quietly, as there are often religious services and events in the Chapel, many of which you are welcome to attend. If the Chapel is empty, you are welcome to explore, take photos, meditate or pray as you wish. The Chapel is a quiet spot in the midst of a busy campus and visitors are always welcome to take a few minutes for quiet reflection.

Collaborating with sculptor Harry Bertoia and architect Eero Saarinen on the MIT chapel, Theodore Roszak designed a spire and bell tower in 1955 (installed in 1956). The tower and its bell, also designed by Roszak and cast at the MIT foundry, were Roszak’s first major architectural commission. The bell tower provides a fitting pinnacle to the building, with a soaring non-denominational design that evokes symbols of what the artist considered to be three main religions: Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Roszak’s many preparatory drawings for the tower were exhibited in The Dean’s Gallery in 2005.

Bertoia’s altarpiece screen, or reredos, was commissioned for Eero Saarinen’s early modernist, non-denominational MIT Chapel in 1955. Suspended over the main altar, his cascading, open fret screen of slim metal rods and crossplates scatters light throughout the chapel. Described as one of Bertoia’s most striking works, it is an integral part of the altar. Here, Bertoia has liberated sculpture from its base to usher in the contemporary era of spatial sculpture.

For more information, click here to listen to a presentation on the work and Bertoia.

The MIT Chapel was designed by famed architect Eero Saarinen and dedicated in May 1955 alongside Saarinen’s Kresge Auditorium. The cylindrical building’s unique and graceful design was intended to meet the needs of all faiths and continues to serve as a place for worship for a diverse MIT community.

The building’s unique appearance was new to a campus that had previously employed a more classical architecture style. After some criticism, Saarinen explained that the chapel’s windowless cylinder “implied the self-contained, inward-feeling which was desirable” for a place of worship. He noted that its undulating interior walls promoted good acoustics as well as an “enclosed feeling.”

A stained glass entryway leads to the chapel, the centerpiece of which is a solid marble altar placed in the center of a circular marble platform. A metal sculpture by Harry Bertoia reflects light from the only window in the chapel, a beautiful domed skylight. The Chapel also features a 1,300-pound bell cast at MIT in the Metals Processing Laboratory and a 768-pipe organ designed by Walter Holtkamp.